


Mutually mine

by AngelWars, Moons_Secret_Stash



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Blood and Injury, Crushes, Eventual Romance, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Panic, Good Medic CT-6116 | Kix, Impaled, Injury, Jesse doesn't know he's flirting XD, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Rescue, Stuck in a blizzard, delirious, fluff at the ending, gay panic Jesse, shameless flirting, so soft!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29807916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelWars/pseuds/AngelWars, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moons_Secret_Stash/pseuds/Moons_Secret_Stash
Summary: Getting stuck on a planet in the middle of a blizzard wasn't one of Jesse's nor Kix's plans. With Jesse injured and the onset signs of hypothermia a huge risk, will Kix be able to get them out of there in time?
Relationships: CT-5597 | Jesse/CT-6116 | Kix
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Mutually mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LaMaFer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaMaFer/gifts).



> This one is pretty angsty, twice, will be set in two chapters, and it's soft at the end!! If you like angst, you've come to the right place. If you like fluff too, you've also come to the right place! 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Come on, Kix!” Jesse yells, looking straight ahead, trying not to slip on the thick, icy ground. Hoth is not a merciful planet. 

Kix stumbles after Jesse, shooting behind them as they move. “Jesse! We need to find the others!”

“You don't think I don't know that!” Jesse yells back at him, grumbling under his breath afterward. 

“This is stupid! Stupid! This shouldn't have happened ya know!” Kix yells, clearly angry with him. 

Jesse rolls his eyes under his helmet. The medic has been blaming him for getting them separated from the rest of their battalion. It isn’t his fault. The blizzard just so happened to catch them off guard on their blindside and Jesse just so happened to not be watching the rest of their comrades to make sure he didn't lose sight of them. Well, guess what, they did. 

Jesse is so distracted by Kix yelling at him that he doesn't notice the huge hole he's heading straight for. When he gets close enough, the ice gives way and cracks underneath him. Jesse yells in startlement and tumbles down into the icy chasms. 

Kix yelps and slides, almost falling over the edge himself, but he stops just in time. “Shit! Shit! Jesse!” Kix approaches the edge as carefully as possible and looks down. “Jesse, are you okay?”

Jesse flinches, grimacing under his helmet. He opens his eyes and stares upward. The hole he fell through is high up. _How did I survive that?_ he wonders, trying to sit up. When he tries, his exhale ends off in a choked-off scream. 

Kix's eyes widen when he catches the sight of scarlet soaking the right side of Jesse's armor. “Shit,” he mutters. 

Jesse looks at his abdomen, breaths quickening when he sees that there's a pointy chunk of ice in his side. “Oh stars,” he exhales raspily. The back of his head thunks against the ice under him, tired of holding his head up. It’s unfortunate that the armor they are wearing is different from those they wear on non-snowy planets. This armor is designed to protect a trooper within it from the cold, but it was completely useless against sharp objects or blaster shots.

Kix's eyes leave the wound and scan the chasms for another way down. He spots one in the back and realizes that there is an open cave up ahead on the surface. It could lead to Jesse, hopefully. “Jesse, I'm going to come down and get you! It may take a while though, so hang tight for me, okay?”

Jesse groans, but manages to nod. He stares up at the ceiling, gaze wandering before he focuses on the hole from which he fell through, and vaguely, he can just about see Kix peering down at him. Of course, Kix will try and find a way down to him. He always does. Jesse’s lips twitch up into a smile. He wants to tell Kix to keep going, to find his way back to the others. There is no way to know if the cavern is stable in any way or if there is any kind of safe way down to his position. Kix could potentially put himself in danger trying to save him

But as Jesse tries to shout to tell Kix to leave him there, he can't. His chest hurts too much. All his strength having been knocked out of him. _Please, don't get yourself hurt for me,_ he thinks, hoping by some miracle that Kix can hear his wish.

Kix slowly backs up from the hole, turning to where the cave is. If he's lucky, then it will lead down to where Jesse is. Leaving that spot is difficult though. He can barely bring himself to do it. _What if he's gone before I get to him?_ He can't help but think as he begins to run to the cave, watching his footing across the snow and ice. _He could bleed out before I got there. Internal injuries are almost guaranteed. What if it hit his lung?_ All thoughts rush through his mind as he barely stops at the mouth of the cave.

“I'm coming for you, Jesse. Just hang on,” Kix mumbles under his breath before rushing down into the icy cave.

Kix makes his way through the cave carefully. He has no idea if there could be any more holes like the one that Jesse fell through. He finds an ice bridge of some kind that crosses over a huge, deep hole. He’d rather not imagine what would happen if he fell it. He scoots across the bridge with ease and enters a big room completely made out of ice. 

“This would be a good 'wow' moment if Jesse were with me and we were both okay,” Kix mumbles to himself, looking around.

In the distance, he spots the hole that Jesse fell through. _But where's Jesse? Shit._ Slowly, Kix starts to walk through the cavern, careful not to stand on anything sharp or unsafe. In the distance, he can hear pain-filled breaths. Quietly, Kix listens out, continuing to walk until finally, he spots that familiar shade of blue and worrying shade of red. Not wasting another second, he darts over to Jesse, already reaching for the bag strapped to his back.

“Jesse! Talk to me, Jesse!” He yells, kneeling next to the fallen trooper. He's worried that he's too late. “Are you still with me?”

“Kix?” Jesse mumbles, his voice rough and strained as he tries to shift to look at him. Jesse bites on his lip as pain shoots up his body at the movement.

“Talk to me, Jesse. Tell me what hurts,” Kix pleads, starting to look over the wound.

“My s-stomach,” Jesse says, barely a whisper. He wheezes and squeezes his eyes shut. “It hurts, Kix,” Jesse breathes heavily, staring at Kix. 

Kix nods. _Yeah, his stomach’s gonna hurt for a good while._ “Okay. I don’t want to alarm you, so don’t freak out, okay?”

Jesse whimpers, nodding slowly.

“There's ice sticking out of your stomach, bud,” Kix tells him. 

Jesse whimpers, looking down again. He forgot it was there. “Oh, stars. K-Kix, I'm going to die,” He starts to cry, grimacing when the pain increases. “I don't want to die!”

Kix coos at his friend and shakes his head, checking the wound's entry point. “You aren't going to die, Jesse. Not when I can help it.”

Jesse whimpers again.

“Shhhh, Jesse. Shhhhh,” Kix soothes him quietly, taking a moment away from examining the wound to gently take Jesse's hand and squeeze it in an attempt to comfort him.

“Kix. Kix, it hurts,” Jesse cries, trying his hardest not to move around. Jesse doesn't want to bother him. He doesn't want to make his job any harder than it already is.

Kix nods. “I'll see if I can find something to help with that. Just stay still for me.” He turns to search through his bag for something that can help. He looks through his bag until he finds something he can use to stabilize the ice in Jesse's wound. He needs to prevent as much movement as possible to avoid any internal damage. 

"Alright, buddy. I'm going to wrap this around your abdomen and then around the impaled object. Okay?" Kix explains what he's going to do so he doesn't freak out Jesse. 

Jesse makes eye contact with him and bites his lower lip. "Y-Yep. Got it."

Kix nods and then gets to work. He slowly lifts Jesse a little and wraps the dressing around his stomach to start. It's a lot harder to lift him with two hands and keep him up with one all by himself but he'll have to make due. Jesse groans at the movement and closes his eyes. 

Kix gets the dressing on the other side of Jesse's torso and brings it back around. He repeats this motion over and over again until he's wrapped Jesse's stomach thoroughly. After he finishes, Kix brings the dressing around the impaled object, making sure to be extra careful because any bump against the object moves the distal end in the muscle and worsens the damage, and secures the ice.

"The ice...I don't think it'll melt, per se. It might...but not inside of you. It's not that deep, but deep enough to hurt," Kix says more to himself than to Jesse. "It's too cold for it to melt though." Kix takes a look at their surroundings. "We can try and leave through the cave opening I came through, but we'll need you to rest first before you attempt to move. Okay?" he asks, making eye contact with Jesse again. 

Jesse shivers but nods nonetheless. Kix finishes with the dressing and cuts it. Then he hovers his hands over the wound and gulps. 

"Alright buddy, this is gonna hurt like hell, but I need to put direct pressure into the wound to stop the bleeding. Okay?" Kix's golden eyes flick over to Jesse for a brief second. 

Jesse looks sick just staring at Kix's hands, but he nods. 

"Take a deep breath," Kix reminds him before he pushes his hands down onto the wound around the ice. Jesse lets out an ear-piercing shriek the moment Kix presses down on the wound. He clenches his eyes shut and bites down on his fist. That doesn't work and he continues to scream.

"I'm so sorry Jesse. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry," Kix desperately tries to soothe him, but he doesn't let up. He knows he needs to keep doing this, even if it hurts.

Jesse's screams turn to quieter sobs. His tears freeze into tiny crystals on his cheeks. Jesse reaches out to try and grab Kix's hands, hoping to pull them away from his wound. His hand flops back down against the ice.

"You're doing great Jesse. You're doing so well, doing so well for me," Kix assures him, reaching into the bag and fumbling around to try and find any of the painkillers he usually carries in his pack.

Jesse cries softly, hands moving back and forth on either side of his body. "Grr. Fuck! This hurts. This hurts, Kix."

"I know, I know,” Kix coos. _I was very careful so hopefully, he doesn’t have internal bleeding._ “Just take deep breaths for me. Once I get the bleeding settled down enough, we'll try to leave this damn place, got it?" he reassures his friend. 

"What if the others have left already?" Jesse asks, panting, focusing on his breathing. 

Kix shakes his head. "They won't. Our comms still work. We are close enough to the camp, we just lost track of the others on the way through the storm. They probably lost a lot of men out there and not just us. So they'll wait for a couple of hours. We'll get there before they leave, you hear?"

Jesse nods, turning his head to the side.

"I promise, Jesse. I promise that I'll get you out of here,” Kix promises quietly, stopping to gently pat Jesse's shoulder.

Jesse nods. But already Kix can tell that he doesn't quite believe it. He already expects to die on this frozen planet, in pain and cold in a darkening cavern. "Just you wait. Soon enough you'll be up and walking, doing something incredibly dangerous again. You're not going to die here," Kix assures him, gently patting the side of his face to catch his attention.

"Whatever you say, Kixy,” Jesse replies, forcing a small grin to spread across his face. He looks over at Kix and then down to the wound before instantly regretting it again. "Oh no," Jesse hisses, tipping his head back, feeling dizzy. "Oh no, oh no. Why did I do that?"

Kix frowns. "Jesse?"

"Oh god." Jesse can't look away. He keeps looking back. "W-Why is there so much b-b-blood?" He asks with a nervous stutter. Something in his chest tightens and his stomach churns wildly. Jesse whines pitifully and starts to panic.

"No no. Jesse. Stay with me. Calm down your breathing," Kix tries to guide him. 

"Oh stars, oh stars, oh stars," Jesse mumbles quickly, breathing rather quickly. He rolls his head to the side and groans, sweating. 

"Just look at me, Jesse. Eyes on me, okay? Don't look down, look up at me," Kix says firmly, leaning over to try and catch Jesse's attention. He waits for a second, watching as Jesse hesitantly looks up at him, amber eyes swimming with tears. "There you are. Just look at me. And breathe." Kix forces himself to stay calm, breathing steadily so that Jesse can watch and copy him.

Kix is well aware that there's too much blood. He knows that they just can't risk more bleeding by moving. So no matter how much it hurts, he has to keep pressing down. But Jesse starts breathing a little more steadily, each breath shaky but there, even as Kix presses down so heavily on the wound.

Kix smiles. "There you are. Just hold still for me and keep breathing like that. We'll be out of here in no time."

Jesse nods, grimacing here and there. "I'm sorry. It just hurts."

"It's okay, no need to apologize. I would be afraid too if I was bleeding from my stomach. But you have the best medic in the 501st with you, bud. You'll be fine," Kix kind of brags, smirking at Jesse's scrunched-up face. 

"Shut _uuuup~"_ Jesse groans, chuckling.

Kix chuckles too, taking the opportunity to lift his hand and check on the bleeding. He frowns, not liking what he's seeing. Jesse just won't stop bleeding and Kix doesn't want to worry him by letting him know how bad it looks. 

"Rex isn't going to be happy. One of his best men, felled by a little ice." Kix forces a grin, trying to appear calm as he pressed down a little more urgently.

"I- ah- I wouldn't say I'm that good," Jesse protests, fighting to urge to look at his stomach. He knows that won't end well.

"Yes, you are. You're better than you admit. Which is why I know you'll be absolutely fine, okay?" Kix insists.

"Okay,” Jesse mumbles, closing his eyes again. 

Kix mutters something under his breath and decides to mess with the comm system. _Maybe someone can hear us. It wouldn't hurt to try,_ he thinks. Kix presses the button and says, "Hello, hello. This is CT-6116, Kix. CT-5597 has fallen in an ice cave and is injured. We need backup and medical support immediately. Hello?" he takes his finger off the button, receiving only static. 

He repeats himself, “Hello hello. This is CT-6116, Kix. CT-5597 has fallen in an ice cave and is heavily injured. We need backup and medical support immediately. Over?" More static.

“Dammit,” Kix curses under his breath. “It's gotta be the storm messing with the signal."

"Heavily injured? You said I was fine." Jesse frowns, keeping his eyes closed but directing the frown in Kix's general direction. 

Kix sighs and shifts so he only has one hand on the wound, starting to look a little frantically through his bag for anything that can help because as much as he hates to admit it, things don't look good. "Relax Jesse. I know what I'm doing. Leave all the worrying to me," Kix mumbles, deliberately avoiding the topic. He swore he packed more than just bandages but nothing seems to be helpful, not for this situation, and it's getting colder.

Jesse mumbles something to himself and wipes his forehead. "'M feeling hot Kix. N-no. No, that's not it. Cold? I don't even know anymore. And I'm hungry," Jesse complains, feeling just awful.

"Well, food isn't an option right now. But I'll see if I can warm you up," Kix says with a nod, grabbing the shiny blanket tucked into his pack.

He carefully tucks it around Jesse's chest, making sure it doesn't cover the wound he's working on. It's not a lot, but it will have to do. But the way Jesse talked, it's worrying him. His words are getting jumbled. _You need to stop the bleeding, and you need to keep him warm_ , Kix thinks to himself.

Jesse settles under the blanket, opening his eyes to watch Kix. Jesse sighs quietly and looks up at the hole in the ceiling above them. The hole he stupidly fell through. He grimaces at the sight and frowns. "I'm an idiot for not looking where I was going in the first place," he mumbles loud enough for Kix to hear. Jesse closes his eyes in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's not your fault. There's so much snow on this planet it's hard to see anything." Kix tries to reassure him as he grabs a few more strips of bandages to press against the wound. "Try not to close your eyes too much, okay? I need you to stay awake for me." He says suddenly, nudging Jesse's face very gently.

"Why?" Jesse frowns, opening his eyes anyway.

"Just don't want you falling asleep on me," Kix says simply.

Jesse giggles, and says, "Guess I’ll just look at your eyes then." He smiles at Kix and hums, eyes becoming slits for a second.

"As long as you're not looking at your chest, that's fine with me." Kix chuckles. He looks up at the hole Jesse had fallen through and shivers. It's getting colder.

Jesse shivers as well, despite being tucked under the small blanket. He exhales, watching his breath in the frozen air. "This sucks ass," Jesse mumbles, rubbing his eyes. "I have to stay awake even though I feel sleepy." He grimaces when the pain twinges a bit.

Kix chuckles, "It's alright. You'll be fine. How about we talk about something while we are waiting? What do you want to talk about?"

Jesse shrugs quickly. "I don't know. You're supposed to be the smart one." He regrets that movement as he shifts. He lets out a whine of pain.

"I don't think you'd want to listen to me talk about medicine. Especially not right now," Kix replies, shaking his head with a smile. He removes a little pressure off of Jesse's chest, feeling his arms start to tire.

"But you have such a nice voice," Jesse giggles, a playful grin spread across his face. 

Kix pauses in thought. "Jesse. Jesse, we're clones! We have the same voice!" He exclaims, trying to stop himself from laughing.

Jesse continues to giggle. _Cutely, a matter-of-fact,_ Kix adds internally.

Jesse smiles up at him and softens up. "Not to me. Your voice is different from the others, Kix. Your voice is soothing even when you are being firm. Your voice, I can pick out amongst hundreds of us. Your voice is...it's nice," he babbles that out, still gazing up at Kix with hearts in his eyes.

Kix smiles, feeling his face heat up and his chest flutter. He chuckles, not entirely sure how to respond to that. For a moment, he can't help but wonder if Jesse is going delirious with blood loss. "That's sweet Jesse. Thank you," He eventually manages to respond, not sure what else he could say.

Jesse giggles again and sighs, patting Kix's hand. "You're _welcomeee_ buddy 'ol pal." Jesse closes his eyes for a second, then he opens them and asks, "Has the bleeding stopped some?"

Kix takes a look for him. "It's starting to, yes. I'd say you're not at risk of bleeding out everywhere. At the moment anyway. Please don't move though, I don't want you risking any further injury," he replies, not mentioning his main worry is about the blood Jesse has already lost. “Until we are found and get you some proper medical attention at least. Then you'll be all fixed up and ready to fight again," Kix assures him, double-checking on the wound again. 

Jesse groans lightly and looks up at Kix, making eye contact with him. "But I'm cold and it hurts. Everything hurts. Why won't it stop, Kix?" Jesse starts to cry softly when the pain twinges for half a second.

Kix rubs Jesse’s hip the best he can without messing with the wound and coos, "Shhh. It's okay. I know it hurts. But we'll get out of here. I'll attempt to get in contact with someone again. Hold on." Kix raises his wrist to his mouth and presses a few buttons. "Hello? Hello, this CT-6116, Kix. We need medical attention immediately, over?" More static, again. 

Jesse tilts his head to the side and sucks it up, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of Kix of all people. He'll never let it go. 

"Got nothing yet," Kix tells him solemnly.

Jesse clenches his jaw shut and tries not to cry, no matter how much Kix is trying to comfort him. It just hurts so much and it's getting colder by the second. Soon, he imagines he will be nothing more than a block of ice. "Kix, how bad is it?" He asks quietly, looking at the medic. 

Kix shakes his head and takes a hold of his hand, running fingers over the back of it in an attempt to calm Jesse. "You'll be fine," Kix replies, trying to keep his voice even and failing.

"Don't lie to me Kix. Please. Just tell me."

"It's fine. Okay, you aren't getting frostbite because your suit is still keeping you warm. Don't worry about that. The wound is still bleeding a little bit but it's fine. We'll just have to wait a little while longer." Kix reassures him the best he can. He rubs Jesse's knuckles through his blacks comfortingly. 

Jesse closes his eyes and groans, praying that they get out of this soon. 

Half an hour later, Kix looks up at the hole in the ceiling above them and takes notice that the snowfall has slowed down some. It brings a smile to his face. "Oh, my stars. I think the storm is passing!" He says with excitement and looks over at Jesse. 

Jesse slowly opens his eyes and coughs. "Uh-huh."

"H-Hey, don't do that. I need you to be a bit more enthusiastic, or at least try to," Kix tells him, frowning slightly. 

_"Yeahhh~ I'll tryyy~"_ Jesse chuckles.

Kix looks up at the ceiling again and freezes up. I hear something.

"You know, this would be a whole lot funnier if I wasn't hurt, but whatevs," Jesse rambles on, shrugging. 

"Shhh! Shhh! I hear something,” Kix hisses at him, straining his ears to listen. 

"Oh, well that rude," Jesse mumbles sadly. 

"I know bud, but you can ramble all you want once we get picked up," Kix says, listening to the howling of the winter wind. “I reckon it’s real soon.” he raises an eyebrow, listening intently. This distant humming sound echoes in the distance, and it's not the wind. "It's a scooter," Kix mumbles, gasping slightly. 

He yells, "Hey!! Hey!" And taps the buttons on the comm. "Come on come on." Kix jerks slightly, realizing something. "Jesse put your hands on the wound real quick. Don't let go!" Kix moves off the wound and he starts to dig into his medpack. 

Jesse scrambles to put pressure on the wound and whimpers, "What's going on?" Terrified of what the answer might be.

Kix doesn't answer. He doesn't have much time. He'll miss them if he doesn't hurry. _Flare. Flare. Where is it?_ Kix wonders if his hands pull out a red flare and he grins. "Yes!" Kix cheers, dropping the backpack on the ice. He cracks the flare, triggering a chemical reaction. It glows a hot red. Kix rotates his arm back and throws as hard as he can. The flare manages to make it out of the hole and lands in front of it. With a victorious grin, Kix presses one singular button on his comm and stands still.

"Hello! This CT-6116, Kix! CT-5597 and I are stuck in a hole just ahead of you. We require immediate medical attention and transport! I've thrown a flare onto the ice to mark where we are located. Please help." He lets go of the button and squeezes his eyes shut, silently praying. 

The comm's receiver crackles for a few seconds of dead silence, causing his and Jesse's stomachs to churn. Jesse squeezes his eyes shut and bites his lower lip. _I'm going to die down here._

"We've received. We see your flare, over!" A clone's voice breaks through the silence. Kix's and Jesse's eyes widen.

"Just stay still and stay awake for me okay, Jesse? They're coming for us," Kix says as he hurries back to Jesse's side. He quietly pulls Jesse's hands from the wound and starts to apply pressure again.

"I'll try Kix. I'll try." Jesse nods, biting back a cry as Kix presses down on him again.

"They know we're here. They are coming for us. And then we'll be able to fix you,” Kix adds quickly to reassure his friend and put some hope back into that mind of his again, while he also desperately hopes that they will be quick. He doesn't know how much longer they can stay there. 

It doesn't take much longer for their comrades to get a LAAT to come to their exact location with rope to lift them out of the hole, or more like Jesse first. Kix smiles to himself when a trooper comes over to the edge of the hole and yells, "Hey! We're gonna get you out alright! How's he doing?"

Kix holds a thumbs up to the trooper and says, "Thanks! He's doing fine. Just need to get him to the medical quickly!”

"You got it, boss!" The trooper responds, backing away. "Alright, ya lot! Prepare to lower the litter down there with the straps!" Kix hears the trooper yell at other troopers. 

He looks over to check on Jesse. Jesse's lip is twitching, and he's breathing fast. Kix switches to medic mode immediately. "Jesse? Jesse, what's wrong?" He asks him, shifting a bit to get a better look at his face and so Jesse can see him. 

Jesse groans softly and starts to choke—a sickly gag—whimpering under his breath. His face turns green and Kix realizes what's wrong. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. The medic swears under his breath. He doesn't want to move Jesse, it can't be good for his wound to move at all, but the last thing he wants is for Jesse to choke. Hurriedly, he gently takes hold of Jesse and rolls him onto his side, trying his best not to move too quickly. Once he's rolled over, Kix gently starts to stroke Jesse's head.

"It's ok Jesse. It's ok, you're doing fine," He mumbles, reaching over to continue pressing down on the injury.

Jesse groans again and coughs, calming down. The green tinge to his skin remains, but he looks less likely to throw up. He closes his eyes and sighs, breathing in and out of his mouth. "S-S-Sorry. Got motion sick for a second," Jesse mumbles with another wet cough. It's weird because he's in a stand-still right now, but he felt dizzy while looking at the trooper above them talking to Kix earlier.

“You've lost a lot of blood, I'm not surprised. Just keep breathing steady." Kix presses his lips into a thin line, becoming more concerned. They need to get out of there, and quickly. “Don't pass out on me Jesse. We're nearly out of here," Kix adds, pressing far more firmly with urgency.

"I'm trying," Jesse replies, struggling to keep his eyes open. The world’s spinning on its axis even though he's lying still. 

The LAAT starts to lower the litter down into the hole. The jets from the LAAT knock snow into the hole and all over the place. Jesse flinches, closing his eyes. The stars dance behind his eyelids. "Stars, K-Kix," he mumbles, whimpering slightly. "K-Kix. _'M-’M go-gonna p-pass ouuutt~”_ He reaches out for the medic's hand, trying desperately to stay conscious.

"Just stay with me, Jesse. They're just gonna lift you out of this hole. Then I’ll fix you up. Just stay with me," Kix urges him, grabbing his hand, and giving it a tight squeeze. 

Jesse nods but he's not sure he can do it. Everything hurts, and sleep just sounds like such a good idea. "Kix. Kix," Jesse repeats as if he's trying to remind himself that, yes, Kix is here with him, and he's not a figment of his imagination. The litter hits the ice floor behind Kix, but Jesse hardly notices. He feels cold. "S-Stay. St-stay," He repeats a plea, clenching onto Kix's hand, wanting to touch something physical so he doesn't slip. "Don't let go please."

"I'm going to have to let go for a little while so you can get out of here. But I'll be right behind you, I promise," Kix says quietly, trying to reassure Jesse. As gently as possible, he lifts Jesse and sets him down on the lifter, and once he manages to get him on there he gives Jesse's hand a tight squeeze. "I'll be right behind you," He promises before letting go and motioning for the LAAT to get Jesse out of there.

Jesse lifted into the air, staring at the bottom of the LAAT. A giant moon hovers over it in the distance. The sky’s a maroon dark. Beautiful. Five troopers look down at him, searchlights flashing him in the eyes. Silent tears roll down his cheeks. Jesse continuously reminds himself, _Stay awake for Kix. Stay...awake. Stay awake...s-stay..._ but darkness consumes him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! Welcome to the end of chapter one!! Whoo!! Moon and I hope you enjoyed it so far! Chapter 2 will be up by the end of the week.
> 
> Beta-read by my lovely amiga, LaMaFer (Ao3). ¡Te Amo, chica!


End file.
